SAN JOSE, Antique – Public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in this province have been instructed to observe social distancing as a preventive measure against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Antique Police Provincial Office director Colonel Roy Parena, head of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for COVID-19, said that only half of the regular passengers’ capacity will be allowed.
“The PUVs will not be allowed to proceed to their destination if they are found to have boarded more than 50 percent of their passenger capacity,” he said.
He added that the IATF’s checkpoints in the borders of Antique-Iloilo, Antique-Aklan and in the municipalities will flag down PUVs found violating the social distancing rule.
The violators will be reprimanded or even arrested, he stressed.
Meanwhile, commuters who are exempted from Antique’s travel restriction are advised to take the coastal road route in Anini-y town going to San Joaquin, Iloilo.
Hamtic town’s Barangay Tiolas, which is the regular road used by motorists and passengers in exiting or entering Antique, has been closed. It was done so that the province of Antique and Iloilo will only have one entry and exit point.
For his part, Dr. Inocencio Abiera Jr. of the Antique Provincial Health Office said that passengers who would be found to have fever at checkpoints will be brought to the hospitals via ambulances.(With a report from PNA/PN)
